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Wednesday, August 29, 2012

It might be a good time to step away from Twitter.

I have used a little bit of Twitter in the past, however, I really didn't see the point to it. Why post things to the world and be limited to 140 characters of text? I tried to see it from others points of view, but whenever I would log in I could not even get myself to feel like it was worth the time. I will admit, Facebook was addictive. Twitter, however, was overhyped and ultra-disappointing.

Sadly, more people are finding their lives affected by (a)social sites such as Twitter. I must agree that mocking a suicide is something that is in very bad taste. Would a person say this to a stranger in a face to face conversation? I doubt many would. So why say it on the internet? Even if one particularly does not like another person, there is no reason to act in such a manner just because you are hidden behind the safety of a computer screen.

Strangely, some people claim that people are the same on and off (a)social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. The truth is, many people are not the same person on and off these (a)social sites. The internet and the (a)social networking sites that comprise it are fantasy worlds where people can be and act however they want without fear of the same types of repercussions that would take place in the 'real world'. Why would a person chose to not act like they are more intelligent (or less so), or flat out lie to get what he/she desires on Facebook? I can't even begin to state how many people I knew who skewed their lives to look glamorous, like something out of a television show, when in reality, their lives were just as normal as anyone else's. The need to be better than everyone else and live a super-life is truly apparent in the world of (a)social networking.

On the subject of Twitter, I have found that the internet has become less and less creative ever since (a)social networking sites took over. For example, I used to read the blogs that my sisters wrote online and enjoyed learning about them and their lives. I would read about the places they lived and traveled, fiction they would write, and their thoughts about growing up. Now all of that takes place on sites like Facebook and/or Twitter. It's a little hard to tell a narrative about your deepest thoughts in life with only 140 characters of text. Now the only thing I see from these people that are creative are pictures of their food and snippets of what they dislike about their jobs and others. Sometimes they would do a little online survey that would tell the world how many children they could expect to have. Sadly, sites like Twitter and Facebook have reduced the world to a mental sludge.

It baffles me that Twitter is still so popular. Do people really need to be "connected" to strangers and long-lost acquaintances all of the time? Is this type of behavior, this addiction, healthy? What is it about this site, possibly the worst site on the internet, that draws people. Why do people literally spend their entire day zombified on Twitter? Why can't some people just back away from this site? What value does Twitter have? I can't seem to find any true substantial value to this site. In the end, such (a)social networking sites only bring the users down. Addiction is the result and upon that turning of the final page in life, many will look back upon a life spent as a slave to the internet and (a)social networking. Is this honestly how you want to spend your life?

2 comments:

I only see Twitter as a useful business tool and potential alibi. That is, you can receive timely updates about a bang you like doing a gig near you, or a new album coming out; companies can garner new interest and business, putting themselves out there; and celebrities can be in the clear if they post a picture of themselves in one place to protect them from any potential threat of being accused of committing a crime that took place elsewhere. Oh, that and they can create their own publicity!

Notice how a lot of people see through a threat of getting off of Twitter, only to rejoin a few weeks later.

I have viewed Twitter and personally, I can barely make sense of what people are "tweeting" among the array of nauseating hash tags.

You are right, people can act completely different to how they do in real life, when using (a)social networking sites. Just think, the trolls out there could probably be your kind, unassuming next door neighbour.Twitter seems to be a breeding ground most of the time for bullying, hate, disgraceful comments and pure bile.

Thanks for this blog. I opened a Twitter account a few years ago but hardly used it. I read one of the posts here about Twitter being used as a marketing tool by businesses, and I felt it to be true. I have deleted my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts because I don't use them anyways. Now for the ultimate challenge: deleting (not just deactivating) Facebook.